Chiu said that the unredeemed bonds issued in 1947 were payable to the Republic of China government and were evidence that the party had contributed to helping the country through hard times by buying the bonds.

The party said it used its own gold to pay a number of U.S.-issued bonds and had not requested that the state pay off the debt immediately.

The gold bonds were later registered in February 1989, according to party property records, and are currently in the keeping of CTBC Commercial Bank.

The KMT said that the principal and non-interest government bonds were valued 1.04 million and 2312.0143 ounces (32,419 kg) of gold, now valued at approximately NT$38.5 billion.

Wonder how $1.25 billion in gold bonds is going to sit with those ordinary working stiffs who gave money to the "poor" KMT? One also wonders how this news will affect the Chairmanship race -- after all, it was Hung who said KMT needed money. Will she pay the price? Was that why this news was released now? Not enough data to answer those questions...

Another issue: those bonds are not payable to the KMT, but to the Republic of China. I'd love an explanation of how this is not an example of the KMT putting public assets into its private billfold._______________________[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

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